, 1887-10-26
A PAWNBR0KER'S SHOP.
SCENES IN A PLACE WHERE MONEY
IS MADE OUT OF MISERY.

step. on "a Downhiu Road-PIedsing n
Wedding Ring-The Slow March from
Wealth to Poverty-Muoh Profit for
Little Outlay.
A pawubroker was 5usily engaged yes
terday afternoon looking through his
books in his shop IN the Bowery, near
Hester street. One of Inspector Byrnes'
detectives stood at his elbow, looking over
the boob also. The detective was looking
for some stolen property, which he had
been informed had been planted in this
place. While they were running over the
items, there was a sharp ring of the C0ice
door bell, and a woman walked slowly to
the counter. Her clothes were a faded
black and torn in places. There was
nothing but sadness in the pinched lines
in her face, and her emaciated body and
trembling hands told n story of woe and
misery, louder han words. She started
back n pace or two, as the pawnbroker
stepped nimbly in front of her from be-
hind his desk, as If half inclined to get
away from the place altogether. There
were tears in her eyes when she went back
to the counter, and she turned her face
partly around from the ~pawnbroker, to
hide her emotion. There is little senti-
ment in the pawnbroker's heart and he
tapped nervously on the counter, waiting
for the woman to say or do something.
After a moments mental struggle she
took q heavy gold ring from her finger
and pushed it toward the money lender.
II was her wedding ring. The pawn
broker examined the ring closely, weighed
it and tested its quality with acid. Being
satisfied that it was genuine, he laid 81
and u ticket on the counter. He did not
ask the woman's name; she had been to
see him before. She clutched the money
quickly and hurried away, trying vainly
to keep back the sobs that welled up into
her throat.
''Vvell, that's the end of her, " said the
p~awnbroker, as the smile of Shylock
spread over his face and raised wrinkles
on his bald head.
''What do you meanS" he was asked.
st means that I've lost her trade and
will probably never see hor again. No
matter how hard the luck a woman is in the
last thing to go is the wedding ring. Her
husband may lave been a worthless
scoundrel, but she will stick to the ring
until there Is nothing else to pawn. a
pawnbroker is a constant witness of the
decline of the human race, or at least a
certain portion of it. Watching the slow
march from wealth to poverty Is his daily
amusement. Take the case of this
woman. 1t is a typical one. She came
here FIRST about two years ago. She was
then gay, well dressed, and had diamonds
in her ears and on her fingers. She threw
off a diamong ring with q careless air and
asked for a loan, explaining that it was
only a temporary affair, and that she
would be in in a few days and redeem 1t.
She came back again, not to redeem, but
to pledge more of her property. She kept
coming from time to time, until now
when all her jewelry and clothing of any
value is In pawn. l have watched this
thing thousands of times IN my forty
years experience, and it's an old story"
"What leads people to pawn their prop
ertys'h
SIN n~inety-nine out of 100 cases rum
and opium. If it were not for these things
pawnbrokers would walk the whole year
round and have little fat on their ribs.
The liquor dealer is the pawnbroker 9
best friend. A loan rarely exceeds one
third the marketable value of the goods.
1t Is u rare thing for a woman to redeem
goods. Men sometimes do wheE the prop
erty Is valuable, or, what is oftener the
case, they sell the ticket to some friend,
who redeems the goods because he usually
gets a bargain. Some people nave n pas
sion for pawning things. There is no ne
cessity for them to do SO, but it comes
from an eccentric mental condition, such
as is found in q k~leptomaniac, and they
cannot help it"
do you nave many visits from thieves
with stolen goods?"
mot us many as is commonly supposed.
We have our eyes open all the time for
stolen goods, as it is not pleasant to nave
the reputation Of keeping n fence The
p~awnbroker Is an adjunct of the detective
Office, and frequently gives evidence which
leads to the detection Of thieves: 1t has
been done so often that thieves look with
suspicion on a p~awnbroker, and when
they have any goods to dispose of usually
melt them for old gold or silver, or take
them to another city and pawn them.
Not n day passes that an attempt is not
made to swindle the poor pawnbroker by
trying to get a loan on some valueless
stuff. 1t is not often that we get caught,
because we ave q test for everything. A
pawnbroker has to have n good knowledge
of values, both of new and second hand
goods, in order to get all there is in q bar
gain. 1t is hard sometimes to hear q poor
wretch begging for a few more pennies
advance on q loan, but it's not hard to re
fuse when it is remembered that the less
money these people lave the better they
are off. Take it at the best, a pawnshop
is n gloomy place, n 1t only shows the
unpleasant side Of human nature."
as there any money In the businessr"
Upon every package in a pawnshop is
written M. M This is usually taken to
mean misery and money, and it's safe to
say that the pawner gets the misery and
the pawnbroker the money. / challenge
you to find a starving pawnbroker in the
city. There is no business in which there
is so much money made on the capital in
vested. 1t is all profit. There can be no
loss, as for every 81 put out there are So
pledged. New York Tribune.
A Magician's Card Tricks.